Vehicles are subject to a variety of standardized testing, such as the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) regulated by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). One such standard that governs fuel system integrity is FMVSS 301. Specifically, FMVSS 301 defines the fuel spillage requirements for rear impacts up to 50 miles per hour. Some vehicles, for example police vehicles, may be tested at rear impacts up to 70 miles per hour.
Forces resulting from the rear impact may urge the vehicle to deform, including in areas around the fuel tank. Vehicles may be designed to include structural reinforcements and/or shields in order to absorb and/or deflect these forces away from the fuel tank. These additional components may disadvantageously add design and material cost, complexity, and weight to the vehicle. As such, there remains an opportunity to design a fuel tank assembly that satisfies testing such as the FMVSS 301 test while reducing the complexity and weight of structural reinforcements and/or shields in the area around the fuel tank assembly.
Additionally for some vehicles, such as the police cars and SUVs, extra reinforcements and structural barriers may be added to the vehicle in an effort to protect the fuel tank from damage or spillage, e.g., due to puncture, especially at higher speeds, e.g., speeds exceeding 70 mph. These reinforcements and structural barriers may result in more cost and weight. As such there is an opportunity to design a fuel tank to absorb such impacts while reducing additional structural reinforcements or shields and additional cost and weight associated therewith.